Little Big Town Announce 2017 Ryman Auditorium Residency, New Album

Little Big Town will become the first artists to hold a residency at the Ryman Auditorium in 2017, which also marks the 125th anniversary of the legendary venue. The country quartet announced the news Tuesday morning (Nov. 1) to reporters on the famed Ryman stage.

"We'll be inviting some people that have inspired us throughout our career to be special guests every night and also to introduce what we think are the future artists of country music," Karen Fairchild shares. "It's going to be a great privilege and honor. We're very humbled to get to look at all those folks who have inspired us and also to introduce you to new folks that we think will change the course of country music."

The band's residency, titled Little Big Town at the Mother Church, is slated for six nights in 2017. It kicks off Feb. 24, which also marks the release date of the band's forthcoming seventh studio album, The Breaker.

Additional dates are scheduled for Feb. 25, May 19-20 and Sept. 15-16. Brent Cobb will serve as the band's opener on Feb. 24, while Ashley Monroe will open on Feb. 25. Tickets to the six shows go on sale Nov. 4 at 10AM via ticketmaster.com and ryman.com.

While the band didn't reveal their residency's special guests, they did say performers will include artists of all genres. "We've been dreaming as big as we can possibly dream so we're going to go for it," Phillip Sweet adds.

Little Big Town also remarked how "visually stunning" it is to perform on the Ryman stage

"There's such a reverence here and it's really spiritual," Kimberly Schlapman says. "I mean, it is a church and you feel that as you look out into the eyes of the people."

Little Big Town's new single, "Better Man," is out now. They revealed at Tuesday morning's press conference that the mystery writer behind the song is none other than Taylor Swift.